Dining car construction



Dec. '12, 1939. w PATTQN 2,183,225

DINING CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed April 7, 1937 Jnhn W Pn'tt 011 Patented Dec. 12, 1 939 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFlCE John William Patton, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Edward G. Budd Manufacturing 00mpany,Philadelphia, Pa., a. corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 7, 1937, Serial No. 135,450

2 Claims.

This invention relates to railroad dining car arrangements.

The general object of the invention is to so construct and arrange the end of the car adjacent the kitchen as to facilitate the entrance of passengers and waiters into the aisle and to reduce the danger of collision between them.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, and in whicha Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a railroad dining car constructed in accordance with the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section thereof on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawing, I designates the side walls of the car, 2 the usual tables arranged along the side walls, and having an aisle between them, and 3 a closet or cupboard, disposed at the end of one of the rows of tables adjacent the entrance of the kitchen.

A designates the kitchen, having a side wall 4, parallel to one of the walls of the car and forming between itself and the car wall a narrow passageway B through which passengers enter the dining car.

The kitchen also has a transverse end wall 5 having formed therethrough at the side oppo-' site the passageway B, a second passageway through which waiters travel from the kitchen to the aisle of the dining car, such second passageway having a transverse portion C formed between the wall 5 and the closet 3.

With the parts arranged as above described,

in accordance with the usual-practice, passengers coming along the passageway B and waiters coming out of the kitchen through the passageway C, both emerge into the aisle of the dining car at practically the same point, with the result that collisions frequently take place between passengers and waiters. The passageways B and C are disposed at opposite ends of the transverse wall 5 and passengers entering the dining car through the passage B are unable to see persons emerging from the passageway C until after they round the corner at the junction of the walls 4 and 5, and consequently are frequently unable to avoid collisions.

The object of the present invention is to improve conditions at the junction of the twopassageways B and C, and to this end I provide a barrier extending longitudinally of the car from the transverse wall 5, preferably at or near the plane of the wall 4.- This barrier is of such height as not to project into the line .of vision. In this way, passengers traveling along the passageway B are prevented from immediately projecting themselves into the pathway of the Waiters emerging from the passageway C, and by reason of the fact that they are obliged to travel around the end of the barrier, they have an opportunity to see the waiters and be seen by them. Thus persons entering the aisle from one side of the barrier will be aware of any persons who may be also entering the aisle from the other side of the barrier, and collisions will thus be avoided. Moreover, the barrier is preferably made of a length substantially equal to the width of the transverse passageway C, so that the pas-. sengers will emerge into the aisle at a point somewhat further along than the point at which the waiters enter the aisle.

While this barrier may consist of an ordinary wall or railing, it may more conveniently take the form of a relatively narrow bufifet or cabinet, as indicated at 6. Such a buffet or cabinet is used bythe dining car steward for the storing of various supplies and is usually disposed against and parallel with the wall'5. In my improved arrangement I dispose this cabinet at right angles to the wall 5 and adjacent the passage- 7 way B, extending longitudinally of the car, so that it may serve the purpose of a barrier, as I above described.

This cabinet or buffet may be of any desired shape or construction but is illustrated as having a rounded end to facilitate the easy passage of persons past the same. If desired also, it

may be provided with an upper section or superstructure 'I, made of glass or other transparent material so as not to obstruct the vision of persons on opposite sides thereof, whereby they, may readily see each other in time to avoid collision.

What I claim is:

1.A dining car having intermediate its side walls the usual longitudinal aisle, a kitchen at one end of the car, a first passageway located between a side wall of the kitchen and side wall of the car for passengers, a second passageway extending from the opposite side of the kitchen through its end Wall for waiters, saidpassagesaid cabinet constituting in efiect a substantial 55.

' ways leading into the end of said aisle adjacent 0 passageway comprising a transverse portion, said transverse portion and said first passageway both leading into the end of said aisle adjacent the kitchen, and a barrier in the form of an elongated relatively narrow cabinet extending from the end wall of the kitchen longitudinally of the car between said passageways a distance substantially equal to the width of the transverse portion of said second passageway,

said cabinet being of such height as not to obscure 10 the view of one passageway from the other.

JOHN WILLIAM PAT'I'ON. 

